FA Cup 3rd Rnd - Arsenal v Hull, 4/1/15, 17:30, BBC 1

[Rex Stone]

So our defence of the cup begins against the beaten finalists from last year. Don't think Hull will be too up for it, they are in a massive relegation battle right now and may look to rest some of their players.

I'd play a strong side, if we lose here Wenger will be in for one hell of a bumpy ride.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

I expect Alexis might be on the bench for this one. Don't really know what to predict in terms of midfield because I'm not 100% sure of the availability of some players. But I suspect Ospina: Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal: Coquelin, Rosicky, Cazorla: Walcott, Campbell, Ox

Or something like that. With guys like Koscielny, Gibbs, etc on the bench.

 

[Iceman10]

If Akpom is not being sent out on loan then he could well get a start for this one with Campbell out wide, esp. with Poldi's loan pretty much confirmed and a loan out of Sanogo on the cards also.

 

[SiMamu]

---------------Ospina
Bellerin-Chambers-Koscielny-Monreal
------Chamberlain-Coquelin
---------------Rosicky
Walcott--------Akpom-------Campbell

Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Debuchy, Flamini/Zelalem, Alexis, Cazorla, Özil/Maitland-Niles

 

[Vinci]

Alexis and Ox should definitely be rested for this, chance for Theo and Campbell to show what they can do.

Giroud really ****ed us over good getting sent off, we need his presence up front. If Welbz and Sanogo aren't available, Akpom seems like the best choice. The lad is well build from what I've seen.

 

[redanddread]

Wenger doesn't have the luxury of rotating too much as the squad is still decimated by injury. We can't afford to take Hull lightly and they have just had a couple of decent results to ease the pressure on Steve Bruce. Didn't we need a 90th minute equalizer to nick a point when we last met at the Emirates? However, I imagine Bruce will not see this game as a priority and will rotate where he can but with the recent history fresh in the minds of all, Hull will still be up for the cup!

Ospina

Debuchy/Bellerin - Chambers/Per - Koscielny - Monreal/Gibbs

The Ox-Le Coq/Chambers-Rosicky

Campbell-Welbeck/Akpom-Theo

3-1 Arsenal

 

[BobP]

Would start Akpom, that is all.

I hope and pray he makes it here.

 

[bingobob]

Very important we win. We cannot lose two games in a row and we cannot go out of the cup we are defending at the first hurdle. Also cannot have it goimg to replay either too big a fixture pile up already.

 

[Jasard]

Be amazing for us to have a striker come through the youth ranks and make it here, I think the club really needs a success story like that right now... No pressure Akpom!

 

[Toast]

“Honestly I have to check who is available and who is not,” he said. “The two keepers, Ospina and Martinez, will come in. After that, we will see. I cannot rotate too much either because we need stability. Who comes back? We have the 18 players [that played against Southampton] - nobody else will play.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/1415/pre/first-team/54344/arsenal-v-hull-city-match-preview" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/141 ... ch-preview</a>

 

[BobP]

So only those who were a part of the squad for the Southampton game are going to be utilized? Good news for Akpom, he is the only possible positive that could come out of this season if he does well and takes his chances, silver lining potential.

 

[Jury]

This is going to be very tough.

We've played our way into a position where we simply have to rest who we can out of the 18 we took to S'oton. Alexis and Ox would be two, and if Kos is walking a tightrope, then he should be the other. The league games are more important. Sucks sh!t to be in this position, but you reap what you sow.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

I can't remember the last time we had a match on the BBC (TV that is).... I wonder who'll be doing colour commentary, hopefully Keown.

 

[MaestroCesc]

I can't remember the last time we had a match on the BBC (TV that is).... I wonder who'll be doing colour commentary, hopefully Keown.

The CC final v Brum lol...

 

[Rex Stone]

I can't remember the last time we had a match on the BBC (TV that is).... I wonder who'll be doing colour commentary, hopefully Keown.

The CC final v Brum lol...

Great times :cry:

 

[MutableEarth]

Would be great to see Akpom start tomorrow. A risk, but finally an opportunity for the lad.

Still, a little concerned about how we're going to set-up overall.

 

[Jury]

Pretty sure Akpom gets a start tomorrow, and so he should. As much as I'd like to see Campbell get a start at CF over him, Akpom deserves it far more, and it'd only be right.

Sad thing is that we definitely wont see the pair of them starting, so I'll be pissed one way or the other.

 

[The_Roadrunner]

“Honestly I have to check who is available and who is not,” he said. “The two keepers, Ospina and Martinez, will come in. After that, we will see. I cannot rotate too much either because we need stability. Who comes back? We have the 18 players [that played against Southampton] - nobody else will play.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/1415/pre/first-team/54344/arsenal-v-hull-city-match-preview" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/141 ... ch-preview</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well that is very unfortunate. Ox and Alexis definitely deserve a rest and just coming back from injury Debuchy and Kos should probably be rested too.

This type of quote is just so frustrating from Wenger when combined with his transfer policy and tired comments about "we will not buy just to buy".

How about buying to be able to actually field a competitive squad and not run your few non-injured stars into the ground?
How about making sure you have an actually balanced squad that can be rotated in a reasonable fashion to keep players from burning out?

Also hearing comments like this frustrates me that we keep wasting a squad slot on players like Diaby who contribute nothing. Wenger really needs to be more ruthless.

Don't have much to say regarding this game. Would be great to defend our FA Cup but I really worry about burning out our players now unless Wenger actually goes into the transfer market in January as he really needs to.

 

[MutableEarth]

Pretty sure Akpom gets a start tomorrow, and so he should. As much as I'd like to see Campbell get a start at CF over him, Akpom deserves it far more, and it'd only be right.

Sad thing is that we definitely wont see the pair of them starting, so I'll be pissed one way or the other.

A front 3 of Akpom, Campbell and Theo with Ox in midfield. That would be cool. Saying that, AMN might start in midfield aswell, knowing Arsène. It's great to see the youth players get opportunities as I do believe that Akpom and AMN in particular have top class potential, but it's also equally infuriating that we're in this current predicament of having to do it by force in a competition we actually have a chance of winning. Not that I don't think we can still beat Hull, but still. It's unnecessary IMO.

I'm deeply concerned with the way we're setup this season, doesn't fill me with much hope for next season, I heard Ray Parlour on TalkSport the other day - he's normally pretty upbeat about Arsenal compared to the Robsons and the Mersons, but he said that he recently was at the training ground and he said that the methods were exactly the same as they were in 2004 when he left! That's really not good.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Please, Arsenal, just win this.
Please.